Characteristics and expression of the BES1 transcription factors family in foxtail millet (Setaria italica) reveal its potential roles in drought stress responses
摘要
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) growth was inhibited because of drought stress, which has caused yield reduction. BES1 family plays an important role to plant adversity tolerance while the research of BES1 in foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is not clear. In our study, 19564 differential expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained between drought and control treatments based on the transcriptome sequencing of foxtail millet. The bioinformatics analysis of BES1 family was carried out. The six BES1 members were obtained, which have complete open reading frame, and they were divided into four categories by biological evolutionary tree. BES1 family members function was analyzed further, and it was found by cluster tree that SiBZR1A and GmBES1-9 of soybean drought-tolerant genes had high homology. The SiBZR1A expression was significantly increased under drought stress. The function of SiBZR1A in foxtail millet was further verified by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), proline (PRO) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in VIGS-treated millet was decreased significantly by 13.76%, 26.47%, 41.06%, 5.18% and 28.36%, respectively. However, the relative conductivity (REC), malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents of VIGS-treated millet was increased by 26.81%, 73.94% and 32.33%, respectively. The Na+ content of VIGS-treated millet was increased, while the K+ content was decreased. Taken together, we hypothesized that SiBZR1A might be a positive regulator of foxtail millet resistance to drought stress.